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Sunday 31 May 2020

Snapshot of Art Deco(ration)

Phew!  Made it.  I have just finished my piece.  I am relatively pleased with it.  There were moments when I wondered if I knew what I was doing with printing the images on the fabric.  I went through  quite a few extra sheets, not least because a couple had text on and I twice managed to print them back to front!  It's been a while since I used this process and in the meantime I have changed printer so finding my round the settings to up the saturation, etc, was a learning curve.

I was overwhelmed with wonderful images of buildings around the world.  I first thought I would be 'clever' and try and distil the essence of Art Deco in its lines and proportions and realised I am still struggling with being able to abstract things.  So this is my offering, a focus on some of the wonderful decoration on the buildings.

Snapshot of Art Deco(ration)
If I am feeling brave later I might go back in a write the names of the buildings under the photos.

The background is machine quilted in straight lines at angles to reference the angular aspect of Art Deco.  The photos have been printed on fabric, bonded to a second fabric layer to stabilize, and are held in place with leather corners.

Thank you for making me look again at Art Deco, Rosemary.  I am really an Art Nouveau person...

Hilary
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13 comments:

  1. Phil Fisher31 May 2020 at 19:17

    What a great way to celebrate and bring together all the wonderful designs and patterns out there. Clever.

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  2. Dianne Robinson31 May 2020 at 23:59

    A lovely montage, Hilary, of the beautiful designs that one finds on the buildings. It's too bad we can't see the quilting, but mine has the same problem.

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  3. Patricia A'Bear1 June 2020 at 10:14

    Well done Hilary for thinking through and using several buildings and using them all so well into a design. It looks like a huge amount of work but is a fabulous interpretation of the subject. Well done.

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  4. Linda B.1 June 2020 at 12:23

    It's the learning that makes this fun! I certainly enjoy looking at sources of inspiration that I'd not normally pick up on.
    I like the idea of this piece being a reference source, there's certainly one photo that I missed on my internet trawl!

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    1. Hilary2 June 2020 at 13:02

      Oh dear, this is where I have to 'fess up'. Not all these buildings are in NY. I forgot the remit was 'NY Art Deco Buildings' and went off on a jolly around the world. I was bowled over by the amount of decoration/decorative art was built into the designs of the buildings.

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    2. Jinnie2 June 2020 at 13:05

      I think we can let you off: Durban isn't in NY either, and everyone seemed to think that was a good idea!

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  5. Jinnie1 June 2020 at 15:41

    I like your interpretation of the theme, and the leather photo corners are a really good idea.

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  6. Claire2 June 2020 at 10:03

    What a cool combination! Great that you have now perfected your printing onto fabric - its so frustrating when you forget to 'mirror' isn't it? I like the finished piece and the little details you have added. Embroidered names would really finish it off - great idea.

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  7. Amanda2 June 2020 at 11:08

    Hi Claire, I really like the idea of your piece being like a page in a photo album and you have inspired to try printing on fabric. What printer do you use?

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    1. Hilary2 June 2020 at 13:13

      Hilary replying as I was the printing. It isn't an expensive printer - a Canon (3650 I think) I use Canon Pixma inks. But...I am not printing directly onto the fabric. You can get high saturation colours that way but only if you paint a medium on the fabric first. Inks are absorbed by the fabric threads, even the ones which are pre-prepared. You must up the saturation by at least 20%. I learnt this from Michael James - and he should know. I used T-shirt printing sheets. They are not to everyone's liking because they are a film you print onto, which you then iron to the fabric. Hence, good colours but a 'plasticky' feel and look to the images on the fabric. Not a problem here where they are meant to be gloss photos. You can get the sheets for printing on dark background or light backgrounds. Hope that explains what I did.
      There is a wide variety of different sheets out there and some will print right way up - you just have to check. Good luck if you decide to have a go, Hilary

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    2. Amanda10 June 2020 at 20:54

      Thank you. That's very useful information. I looked at printers in one shop yesterday and the pickings wee slim. I guess getting stock from China now is difficult. Trying another shop today. Thanks again, Amanda

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  8. Linda3 June 2020 at 08:13

    A great way to celebrate the wonderful buildings of New York City. I'm impressed with the intensity of colours on your printed pictures, and the idea of putting them into 'corners' works well.

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  9. Allison Moorcroft6 June 2020 at 18:06

    Thanks for the very interesting photo's of Art Deco buildings and how you made it look like a Photo Album page! Obviously I did not read the 'theme' correctly as I chose South African buildings instead of only ones from New York city. ( Haven't seen what the next challenge is from Linda B....? )

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